I surprisingly get a lot of people asking to detail their car. I never intend to make a business of it, but I love doing it to my cars and people ask me to do it to theirs. All it takes is a cheap orbital buffer (mines a used craftsman) and a shop vac. I normally get easily $100 for a basic wash/wax/vac, or $200 to remove scratches and polish then wax the car.
If you have a vehicle that just sits in your garage for long stretches of time, you might find a car rental service like Turo is one of the easiest ways to make extra money. Let’s say you list your 2014 Nissan Maxima in Denver, CO. If you rent out your car for just 11 days a month, Turo says you could make around $385. That’s over $4,600 a year!(6)
If your career path is going nowhere, resign gracefully and switch careers. Research occupations to find out how much they pay and what their future outlook is (in the U.S., you can find this information in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook). Find an occupation that pays well, and invest in the education and/or training to get you that job. Look for employers that offer competitive salaries and ample opportunity for advancement.
The first follows the startup path we outlined above: You have a disruptive idea for an app or piece of software, you validate the idea with real customers, and then raise money to hire developers or a development studio to build, launch, and scale your software. If you’ve done everything right, your software will be accepted to the Apple and Google Stores and you’ll make money every time someone downloads it or pays for a premium feature.
Waiting tables at a restaurant means scrounging for tips. Cater-waitering for dinner parties, corporate events and weddings is essentially the same job—but with an hourly rate of $17 to $35. Send your rsum and photograph to Premier Model Bartenders (145 W 28th St; 212-499-0886, modelbartenders.com), which employs 300 part-time cater waiters in New York.
Or you can take dog walking a step further and get paid to take a dog in while the owner is away! Have you ever checked to see what it costs to board a pet? Those places are not cheap! Do some research and charge 10 – 20% less. Post your ads on Craigslist or around town. But don't expect people to just leave their loved one with a stranger. Make sure you offer your references and that you have all their necessary information if Fido gets injured or sick. Rover can help you here, too – Become a Pet Sitter.
Drop shipping is another great ‘hands-off’ way to sell products. Firstly you will need to find businesses that sell products in your niche that offer a drop shipping service. Then you will need to create a website promoting and selling the products. When you make a sale, you take the payment on your site and then the manufacturer ships the goods to the buyer. The profit comes from charging a higher rate than the manufacturer, and if you are selling a high number of products this can quickly add up to a healthy revenue.
How much will you make? I think my best month with Google AdSense was almost $5,000 over the last ten years. That amazing month blew my mind since it was actually near the beginning of my blogging journey. When you go from making zero to $5,000 in a month, that will rock your world. For me, it also got me even more excited because I knew there were other ways to monetize.
Find a profitable niche: We’ve talked about this a lot. But, where are you most comfortable. What niche do your skills, values, and interests intersect? Do you have 10 years of experience as a technical writer? Do you have long-standing PR relationships that’ll be invaluable in helping startups launch a successful crowdfunding campaign? Determine what makes your value unique, and lean heavily on showcasing that strength to your potential clients.
You can use your phone to receive assignments for short tasks that you complete on the phone itself—app testing and surveys, for example—or location-based gigs, such as mystery shopping or gathering information about merchandising displays at stores. You can even sign up for rewards programs that give you points toward gift cards just for walking into certain stores with your phone (no purchase necessary).
I first learned about you when I downloaded your free e-book, How to Make Money – BLOGGING, via Amazon Kindle. It was a sure one-sitting kind of book but is very meaty. I got all the wonderful ideas from your book and finally decided to visit your website to harvest some more inspiration. I am so glad my path was directed here because I also have just started my incognito blog.
The Learning Annex (212-371-0280, learningannex.com) offers more than 8,000 courses each year, from how to be a matchmaker and how to flip houses to how to be a "Real Cougar Woman." If you have an idea for a class ("How to Make Money Without Really Working"?), send an e-mail to newcourse@learningannex.com. For noncelebrity teachers, they pay a percentage of the revenue. The average class costs $44.95—so enroll 30 students and you'll make $150--$200.
Tutor students. If you have an academic specialty and can squeeze in a couple of hours during the week while Junior is taking a nap or Janie is at gymnastics, share your knowledge with struggling students. Find students looking to improve their grades on your own through your kids' schools – check a site such as Craigslist.org to gauge hourly rates in your area – or sign on with an online tutoring company, such as Tutor.com. You must be available to tutor at least five hours a week and have a college degree to tutor certain subjects for Tutor.com. Tutoring is done virtually from home via a computer, not in person. Tutor.com tutors are paid an hourly rate based on the subject.
Participate in medical studies. If just the thought of this frightens you, know that the intensity of such studies varies greatly. Some studies ask participants (particularly those with medical conditions) to test treatments or medications that can have adverse side effects, but others ask participants to perform physical tasks with no lasting effects. If you are able-bodied and paranoid about keeping it that way, you can even participate as a control in a study at a nearby medical research facility or medical school.
For anyone who would rather focus on their product, marketing, and sales than on maintaining the website for their online store, this kind of ecommerce service is invaluable. You get the beauty and functionality of a website designed by a professional web developer without having to shell out the money for one. Not to mention the fact that you will not have to spend time or money troubleshooting bugs in your website when you use the well-designed turn-keys offered by BigCommerce.

Be professional. When you submit a résumé, don’t type it in ALL CAPS and please don’t avoid the caps lock like the plague. Know how to use it without looking incompetent. Write in complete sentences with proper grammar. Of course, there will be exceptions, but even with the exceptions, you must keep it professional. You’re building their view of you.

Just be sure to put a lot of care into your product listings. Everything from the titles you use, to how effective the description is at convincing potential buyers your product is better than the rest, and even taking care to shoot high quality product photos can have a dramatic impact on your sales. I recommend using photo editing tools like Fotor, which gives you the ability to edit your images, create captivating graphic designs and more.
I have a personal blog that I use for journaling. I became good enough that I opened my own business as a social media consultant. I’m now making a decent amount of extra money. I am also a photographer with a lot of graphics program experience, so I make a little more by doing graphic design, photography, and even digital enhancement. You don’t have to be the best at something in order for it to be profitable; you just have to put in the work and be better or cheaper than other people out there. However, it IS work.
It's important to keep in mind that participants don't "qualify" for all surveys. Market researchers often want opinions from users who match specific demographics or who are in-market for particular products and services. If you attempt a survey that you ultimately don't qualify for, Swagbucks will give you at least one point in its rewards program. You know what they say: "A penny for your thoughts".
Now you’ve got many different options to start earning online. If you saw something that really interests you, try it out and learn more about it. If you’re really wanting to make a full-time income online, you need to be dedicated to learning how to do what you want to do. There are tons of free resources out there. You just have to search for them!
Pro tip for first-timers: Carefully consider the pay rates that are listed. Penny Hoarder Carson Kohler has used the platform to find freelance writing gigs, and she reports low rates — like $3 for 500 written words. It’s probably not worth it. (And, yes, you’ll have to scroll through a whole lot of these low-paying listings to find the good ones.)
@Philip Taylor So by what you’re saying, I can be an unaccredited doctor or surgeon for someone (for example) but do it at a much lower rate than the accredited doctors and surgeons. Since I know what a scalpel is and I wear rubber gloves, I’m a doctor. So, I don’t have to have to respect the profession of medical science at all since I think I know what I’m doing and just go for it.
I first learned about you when I downloaded your free e-book, How to Make Money – BLOGGING, via Amazon Kindle. It was a sure one-sitting kind of book but is very meaty. I got all the wonderful ideas from your book and finally decided to visit your website to harvest some more inspiration. I am so glad my path was directed here because I also have just started my incognito blog.
@LauraGesicki I disagree Laura. Technology can only let an individual go so far with design. It all starts with the thought process and possessing the “designer eye.” This “eye” cannot be taught, but is rather a natural talent and ability to recognize good design from bad. Technology is merely a tool to display our ideas. Nothing beats natural talent and creativity.
For non-tech people (myself included), web design can cause a lot of stress. And stress means opportunity. If you have a knack for web design or web development, you should definitely be capitalizing on it. And since it’s such a foreign concept for many, it can be a really lucrative side hustle. You can find all sorts of gigs on Upwork. Also, you need to read this article: How to Make $5,000+ a Month Building Websites Part-Time
Really good article with some great tips. Affiliate marketing has the potential to earn lots of money and I'm hoping I can make it happen. I have tried the matched betting and it DEFINITELY works. The one thing I would say is that you need to check that any bets have been accepted by the bookmaker. I have had on occasion bets which look like they have been accepted but don't register in my account. Always go into your account and check outstanding bets or your bet history.